Again, a few former COP denizens may recognize this thread too. For those who are unfamiliar, my typical style of posting involves starting a thread and then tracking the topic over time. Hopefully this will be useful in helping interested people stay informed and provide a nexus for discussion as developments manifest over time.

Syria and Yemen have been dominating the focus lately, but European/Ukrainian issues often come into view as well as China and North Korea. I see a potential for a sharp, if not devastating escalation this coming fall, so late September, October and November are particularly on my mind. Right now, Syria and Yemen are the two most active conflicts, though a misstep in any of the world's current hot zones could cause a flare up any time. I rely heavily on SouthFront which is a source of information that has a proven track record of integrity, avoidance of sensationalism and speculation and seems to honestly attempt to report facts.

Syria's efforts to regain control of all its territory have been meeting with rapid serial successes in southwestern Syria for the past two weeks. With fighting now pressing close to both the Jordanian and Israeli borders, increased incentives for Israeli interventions (and excuses to hang them on) are a concern.

The Jordanians have appeared to be uninterested in taking advantage of the situation, but the Israelis.....not so much.

There has actually been less Israeli interference than I had expected up to this point, but the next report is no surprise....I'm thinking we'll see more of this as Syrian forces get closer to the Israeli controlled areas of the Golan Heights.

Yemen has been quite the story for the past few weeks and the Houthis seem to be holding their own in a slugfest against a far better armed foe. Houthi guerrillas have exacted a high price with hit and run tactics on Saudi coalition supply lines with over 85 half million dollar Saudi armored vehicles destroyed and the Saudi attempt to take the port at Hodeidah fought to a stalemate.

Saudi forces have so far been unable to even gain control of the airport south of Hodeidah proper. The tempo seems to have slowed in the past week and the Houthis have been hit hard several times, but they haven't yielded much ground given the intensity of operations. No idea how long the Houthis can keep this up but a war of attrition seems to favor the Houthis and that's looking like what this it turning into.

Some recent reports to take in while we get this thread up to speed :)

(07-08-2018, 10:15 PM)Potato Wrote: Jostler! I'm glad you made it here! We had some great conversations at COP a few years back. Excellent post. I'll be popping in on it to check the future developments.

I'm excited about this new home Mr. Potato :) We'll have more I'm sure :) Good to see you again :)

A mountain tree, if it would see, the far horizon and the stars; May never know a sheltered place, nor grow symmetrical in grace; Such trees must battle doggedly, the blasts and bear the scars.

Five minutes of morning performance of Tymoshenko caused a real panic in the administration of Poroshenko ...

This news snippet is an indication that the Ukraine is more and more descending into chaos and that Yulia Tymoshenko is very skilled in stirring the pot.

Quote:On July 5, presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko on the air of the state TV channel “UA: Pershy” accused Poroshenko of preparing to disrupt the election by introducing martial law. According to Tymoshenko, the commander-in-chief, being in desperation from his low rating, negotiates with the leaders of the LPR and DPR to get them to further aggravate the situation in the zone of the so-called “operation of special forces”. The APUs hand over several settlements to the “aggressor”, Poroshenko introduces martial law, and, of course, presidential elections, due to be held in March next year, are postponed indefinitely. Five minutes of morning performance of Tymoshenko caused a real panic in the administration of Peter Alekseevich [Poroshenko -ed].

(07-09-2018, 04:30 PM)roamer Wrote: Five minutes of morning performance of Tymoshenko caused a real panic in the administration of Poroshenko ...

This news snippet is an indication that the Ukraine is more and more descending into chaos and that Yulia Tymoshenko is very skilled in stirring the pot.

Quote:On July 5, presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko on the air of the state TV channel “UA: Pershy” accused Poroshenko of preparing to disrupt the election by introducing martial law. According to Tymoshenko, the commander-in-chief, being in desperation from his low rating, negotiates with the leaders of the LPR and DPR to get them to further aggravate the situation in the zone of the so-called “operation of special forces”. The APUs hand over several settlements to the “aggressor”, Poroshenko introduces martial law, and, of course, presidential elections, due to be held in March next year, are postponed indefinitely. Five minutes of morning performance of Tymoshenko caused a real panic in the administration of Peter Alekseevich [Poroshenko -ed].

Are there any politicians left in Ukraine that honestly seek what is best for Ukraine? Tymoshenko can't be any worse than Poroshenko but is she much better? I honestly don't know who is bought and paid for and who isn't any more. I don't find allegations of Poroshenko pulling whatever dirty tricks he can think up hard to believe. Do you know what Yulia's view of Donbass and Luhansk is?

A mountain tree, if it would see, the far horizon and the stars; May never know a sheltered place, nor grow symmetrical in grace; Such trees must battle doggedly, the blasts and bear the scars.